TARZAN AND THE LOST EMPIRE
“And now Castrum Mare is happy and contented under Caesar?” asked Erich.
“That is a question that it might not be safe to answer honestly,” said Lepus, with a shrug.
“If I am going to the palace every day to write the history of Rome for Validus Augustus and receive from him the story of his reign,” said von Harben, “it might be well if I knew something of the man, otherwise there is a chance for me to get into serious trouble, which might conceivably react upon you and Septimus Favonius, whom Caesar has made responsible for me. If you care to forewam me, I promise you that I shall repeat nothing that you may tell me.”
Lepus, leaning lightly against the wall by the doorway, played idly with the hilt of his dagger as he took thought before replying. Presently he looked up, straight into von Harben’s eyes.
“I shall trust you,” he said; “first, because there is that in you which inspires confidence, and, second, because it cannot profit you to harm either Septimus Favonius or myself. Castrum Mare is not happy with its Caesar. He is arrogant and cruel—not like the Caesars to which Castrum Mare has been accustomed.
“The last Emperor was a kindly man, but at the time of his death his brother, Validus Augustus, was chosen to succeed him because Caesar’s son was, at that time, but a year old.
“This son of the former Emperor, a nephew of Validus Augustus, is called Cassius Hasta. And because of his popularity he has aroused the jealousy and hatred of Augustus, who recently sent him away upon a dangerous mission to the west end of the valley. There are many who consider it virtual banishment, but Validus Augustus insists that this is not the fact. No one knows what Cassius Hasta’s orders were. He went secretly by night and was accompanied by only a few slaves.
“It is believed that he has been ordered to enter Castra Sanguinarius as a spy, and if such is the case his mission amounts practically to a sentence of death. If this were known
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